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FROM THE FIELD

18th Finance Support Center provides funding

flexibility while leveraging strategic partnership
by
1LT Timothy F. Barile, Deputy Disbursing Officer and SFC Sitanimoa P. Filimoeulie,
Disbursing Manager & Banking Office

CAMP ARIFJAN, KUWAIT – For over three decades, the U.S. Army has partnered with foreign
banks in the Central Command area of responsibility. Foreign banks provide a means to acquire
local (foreign) currency for financial operations in theater. As you may guess, U.S. currency is
also relied upon to conduct financial operations in this ever-changing and expanding theater.
Over time, U.S. Army Finance and Comptroller personnel have obtained U.S. currency through
a process in which finance Soldiers in Kuwait travel to Germany, pick up cash from the
Department of Defense Community Bank, and travel back to Kuwait.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted a vulnerability regarding the ability to obtain and move
U.S. currency in an environment that hampered the transportation of personnel and equipment.
Fast forward from the early days of COVID-19, circa March 2020, to January 2023. For the first
time, on January 19, 2023, the 18th Finance Support Center funded their National Bank of
Kuwait limited depository account and conducted a withdrawal of U.S. currency to validate the
proof of concept and provide an alternative method of funding the Central Command area of
responsibility.

As good stewards of the taxpayer’s dollars, the U.S. Army Finance and Comptroller community
is always looking for alternative methods to acquire, store, and move funds to enable the
mission. This new capability provides operational flexibility in funding the theater as well as
leveraging a strategic foreign partnership with Kuwait dating back to 1991. Key stakeholders
and enablers throughout this process were the U.S. Treasury, U.S. Army Financial Management
Command, 1st Theater Sustainment Command-Operational Command Post G8, National Bank
of Kuwait, and Department of Emergency Services.

Moving forward, the 18th FISC will continue to use the Department of Defense Community Bank
as the primary source of acquiring U.S. dollars as our primary funding source, but they are
ready to execute through the NBK at a moment’s notice. In the meantime, the 18th FISC will
continue to explore additional methods to acquire, move, and store physical currency to provide
operational flexibility.

The 18th FISC, assigned to the 1st TSC, has enduring equities in the current and future posture
of finance operations within the Central Command area of responsibility. The unit, based out of
Ft. Knox, Kentucky, is currently deployed to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, and is responsible for central
funding of U.S. dollars, policy, and oversight of finance operations within the theater.

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